Growing Slash Pine

Size and Appearance

Slash Pine is a slender pine tree, typically with a single, central trunk and a narrow rounded crown. It usually grows tall and narrow, losing lower branches while relatively young, leaving a clear area beneath a high crown. It is fast-growing, averaging around 3 feet a year for the first 15 years. After a period of establishment in your garden, you can expect some peak years where 4 feet a year will be seen. So within 10 years a tree will be more than 30 feet tall, reaching an ultimate size of 70 to 100 feet, but with a high crown typically no more than 40 feet wide. Like some other pines it is naturally self-pruning, which means that lower branches die back naturally as the crown grows, and often fall, unless they are trimmed first. So when planting this tree, don’t place it next to areas with a lot of people walking or sitting, or above vehicles. Over lawns or garden beds is much better. The attractive bark forms large, rugged, flaking plates of red-brown to purple-brown bark, giving an attractive look to the trunk.

The needles of the Slash Pine are long, measuring 6 to 9 inches, in bunches of 2 or 3 clustering along the ends of the branches. They are slightly twisted, and yellow-green to blue-green in color. Needles only last 2 years, so they are usually seen clustering at the ends of the branches, and this short life also means the shade cast is always light and open. After about 10 years tree begin to produce crops of cones. These are 4 to 7 inches long, chocolate to reddish-brown, carried singly or in clusters, hanging down. The seeds they contain are valuable food for wild birds and other wildlife.

Using Slash Pine in Your Garden

If you are faced with an open, treeless garden, then planting Slash Pine will quickly give you light shade that will nurse the development of slower-growing trees and shrubs, or provide permanent light shade for your garden. It also creates a wonderful skyline of rounded crowns – a very attractive look. Plant it on lawns and over flower beds, or at the edges of natural areas.

Hardiness

Only hardy from zone 8, Slash Pine is not suitable for colder regions, and is susceptible to ice damage. It’s a treat for gardeners in the hottest parts of the country.

Sun Exposure and Soil Conditions

Plant the Slash Pine in full sun, in most well-drained soils. It is one of the few pines that will grow in wetter ground, and it areas that are sometimes flooded. It won’t however, grow in places with stagnant water, and needs water movement through the soil to provide air at the roots. It grows in all types of soil, including clays and sands, and prefers acidic or neutral soils, rather than alkaline ones.

Maintenance and Pruning

Although sometimes susceptible to some diseases and pests, trees generally remain problem-free. It is natural to soon see the lower branches weaken and die, at which point they can be pruned from the trunk. Otherwise they will naturally fall at some time, leaving a tall, branchless trunk. Other pruning is not needed, although this tree could be developed a little for a more oriental look, by encouraging multiple stems while young.

History and Origin of Slash Pine

Slash pine, Pinus elliottii, is an American native conifer, also known as yellow slash pine and swamp pine. It is found growing in the southeast, in South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama and Louisiana. It has been widely planted in other areas of the south, as a tree for pulp and lumber, as well as overseas, especially in Brazil and South Africa, and as an ornamental in subtropical regions. It is named after Stephen Elliott, a southern politician, banker and botanist, who wrote an important book in the early 19th century on southern plants. He distinguished it from the closely-related loblolly pine, Pinus taeda.

Buying Slash Pine at the Tree Center

We love to offer our native plants to our clients, as growing native trees has become such an important part of modern gardening. Although not rare in the wild, this tree is not widely grown in gardens, and can be hard to obtain. Plant both a useful and attractive fast growing tree – plant the Slash Pine. But order your plants soon, as we have only limited stock available.

Growing the Green Twist White Pine Tree

Size and Appearance

The Green Twist White Pine Tree is a dwarf evergreen conifer that forms a rounded ball of foliage up to 18 inches or more across, on a short trunk, in the popular ‘lollipop’ shape. What makes it very special is the foliage itself. This is a pine, so it has needles about 2 to 3 inches long, but instead of being straight, as they usually are in pine trees, they are twisted into curled shapes, giving a fascinating and unique texture to this tree. They are a lovely blue-green color, adding more interest to this tree.

Using the Green Twist White Pine Tree in Your Garden

Use these plants as taller specimens in a bed of small plants – perhaps other dwarf evergreens, or small flowering shrubs. Place it in a pot or planter box to give height above annual flowers on your patio or terrace. Plant one at each corner of a lawn or bed, to bring a formal touch to your gardening. Whatever you do with it and however you use this unique plant, you will love the charm it brings, with it foliage looking like the tousled hair of a favorite child.

A plant like this is clearly something special, and it could never be grown from seed. Cheap, seedling white pines are something completely different, and will grow to be forest trees. To make this unusual plant into something unique, we asked out skilled growers to attach stem pieces to the upright trunks of seedling pines, and they produced these beautiful Green Twist White Pine Trees, with the foliage topping a straight stem. The work and skill involved is substantial, but the result is more than worth it.

Hardiness

This plant will grow well even if the winter temperatures fall to minus 30, so this is a great choice for colder areas, where the choices of unusual plants are more limited. Plant it anywhere from zone 4 to zone 8.

Sun Exposure and Soil Conditions

Plant your tree in a sunny spot in ordinary soil. It will grow well in sandy soil, or loam or even clay if the drainage is good. Keep it well watered for the first couple of years, and after that it will survive normal summer dry periods with no extra care.

Maintenance and Pruning

The Green Twist White Pine Tree has no significant pests or diseases, and it needs no trimming or special care. Just plant it and let it grow. If you don’t want to trim any wayward branches that develop, make sure you only cut back into areas that still have needles on them. Bare branches cannot resprout.

History and Origin of the Green Twist White Pine Tree

White Pine, Pinus strobus, is a handsome native American tree that grows throughout the northeastern states and up into southern Canada. In the wild it is a tall tree, often only with branches high up, above a tall, rugged trunk. The tallest trees can be almost 200 feet tall, but in gardens they normally grow between 50 and 80 feet. It has soft needles up to five inches long, in a bluish green color, giving this tree a more delicate look and feel than most other evergreens.

There are a number of unusual forms of this tree, including one which grows into a normal tree, but with twisted needles, giving it an exotic look. This form is called ‘Torulosa’, and one day in the 1990s an enthusiast called Randy Dykstra was looking at one of these trees at the Bickelhaupt Arboretum in Clinton, Iowa. He noticed an odd cluster of branches on the tree of a type called a ‘witches broom’ and he collected a piece of it. When he grew this plant it developed into a charming cluster of branches with curled needles, which he named ‘Green Twist’. He introduced it to gardeners in 1997 and it has become a real ‘hot property’ among those in the know who appreciate unusual and attractive plants.

Buying the Green Twist White Pine Tree at the Tree Center

If you are looking for a striking and unique plant to give a very personal touch to your garden, then the Green Twist White Pine Tree is just what you are looking for. Clearly such a unique plant is always in short supply, so although our suppliers work hard to keep up with the demand, shortages can occur. Order now for something special, that is not only unique, but easy for anyone to take care of – a true trouble-free beauty.

Growing the Slowmound Mugo Pine Tree

Size and Appearance

The Slowmound Mugo Pine Tree is a dwarf evergreen bush that has been made by attaching a special dwarf form of the mugo pine onto the top of a short trunk created from a seedling mugo pine. The result is a miniature tree, with a short, sturdy trunk and a rounded crown of many short branches, growing into a dense ball 1 or 2 feet across. With the trunk underneath it stands about 2 or 3 feet tall once the crown has grown. The short, dark-green needles densely encircle the stems, which are topped with shiny dark-brown buds. The needles are kept on the tree for 5 to 10 years, so it never becomes bare and open, as other pines do. In spring each stem produces a cluster of new short stems, with bright green needles, just an inch or two long, so trimming is never needed to keep this plant bushy, dense and small. As they mature the needles turn dark-green and that color is held well through summer and winter.

Using the Slowmound Mugo Pine Tree in Your Garden

In smaller gardens and in small beds we often want some extra height, but most taller plants are also wide, or slender columns, which may not be the shape we want. The taller but rounded form of this small tree works perfectly in those situations, giving height and bulk without much width. It adds a perfect touch of charm anywhere in the garden, including in rock gardens and collections of other dwarf evergreens. It is also beautiful in a planter or pot, with or without smaller plants beneath it.

Hardiness

The Slowmound Mugo Pine Tree is amazingly cold-resistant. It grows easily in zone 3 without damage, and in all milder zones into zone 7. It does not grow so well in hot zones.

Sun Exposure and Soil Conditions

Full sun is best for the Slowmound Mugo Pine, keeping the growth dense, compact and a rich green. It will take an hour or two of shade each day, but no more, or it will begin to grow weak. It is reliable too when it comes to soil, growing easily in any well-drained soil, from sand to clay, including poor soils and urban gardens. Water regularly when newly-planted, but once established this plant has good drought resistance and needs no special care at all.

Maintenance and Pruning

In some parts of the country there are a few pests that can attack mugo pine, but generally this plant is free of problems, and any potential issues like sawfly are easily taken care of. Some evergreen fertilizer in spring, sprinkled around your bush or applied as a liquid fertilizer, will encourage good growth and healthy coloring. Because this plant is naturally dwarf and compact it needs no trimming or ‘candling’ to stay that way – it’s very low maintenance. If any growth should start to grow directly from the trunk, remove it, because this is not the proper tree.

History and Origin of the Slowmound Mugo Pine Tree

The mugo pine, or dwarf mountain pine, Pinus mugo, grows wild through the Alps of central Europe, in Switzerland, France and east into Austria, as well as down the Italian Apennines and into the Balkan peninsula. It has been grown in gardens for a very long time, and over that time many different forms have been found among seedlings. The most desirable are small and more compact than wild trees typically are, and usually found among batches of seedling plants. The variety called ‘Slowmound’ was discovered in 1975 as a seedling by Jean Iseli, at Iseli Nursery inc. in Boring, Oregon. Jean Iseli was a passionate collector of dwarf conifers who helped popularize them as garden plants, discovering and propagating many forms at his nursery. We had our skilled growers attach pieces of ‘Slowmound’ at the top of roots and short trunks from vigorous seedling mugo pines to create these great miniature trees.

Buying the Slowmound Mugo Pine Tree at the Tree Center

The Slowmound Mugo Pine is so highly-regarded that Jean Iseli placed it in his Signature Plant collection, and also in his TRUdwarf® range, to show what an enormous advance it was over other mugo pines. We love these little guys, and how reliable and easy they are – and so do many other people. Best to order right away, as they won’t be in our stock lists for very long.

Carstens’ Golden Mugo Pine Tree forms a rounded bush, with dense branches and a flattened profile. It grows around 2 inches each year, so that within 10 years it will be about 24 inches across, and 3 feet or so tall, with a crown that is about 12 inches thick. It will continue to grow for its whole life, getting larger, and the trunk will thicken too, so it can support that larger crown. Mugo pines usually produce one set of new shoots each spring, but this variety is unique because it produces a second set of shoots, as a small bunch of stems at the top of each branch in summer. This makes it very dense, full and compact, avoiding the need for the tedious ‘candling’ job often done to keep mugo pines dense and bushy. The needles are about 1 inch long, and slightly twisted, without sharp tips. New needles are bright green, which darkens to a deep, rich green all summer. Then as the colder weather arrives in late fall, they turn a remarkable bright gold – a true yellow, and not a greenish chartreuse.

The dramatic winter color of Carstens’ Golden Mugo Pine Tree, now lifted clear of the snow, is an obvious choice for an area near where you enter the house in winter, perhaps beside a path, or outside a door. Its cheerful brightness will lift your spirits on the worst of winter days, and it looks just as good against the dark earth of a winter bed as it does against a background of snow. It’s a great addition to a collection of colorful dwarf evergreens, planted among rocks perhaps, with a gravel mulch over the bed. An obvious choice for an Asian-style garden too, it adds a refined touch of winter color to the tranquility you have created. Grow a pair of these trees in containers on either side of a door, or plant it among low-growing shrubs for height and as a colorful winter accent. A very collectible plant, this rare connoisseur’s selection is also very easy to grow and very handsome indeed.

Carstens’ Golden Mugo Pine Tree should be planted in a bright, sunny spot for the best color development. It thrives in cold zones, even in zone 2, but it grows just as well in all but zones 8 and 9, which are too hot for it. One of the easiest pines to grow, it will thrive in almost any well-drained soil. Avoid low-lying areas and heavy, wet soil. If you do have wetter ground, plant on a slope or raised area, so that water will not hang around the roots for long. Pests and diseases are normally not serious or common, and with its unique production of bushy summer shoots, it needs no trimming. This easily-grown plant is very low-maintenance, and resistant to ordinary summer drought, once established.

This tree is a special form of the mugo pine, Pinus mugo. This tree is very variable in its natural environment, which is the mountains all through central Europe, especially in Switzerland and Austria. There it can be a tree as much as 18 feet tall, but it is more normally a shrubby plant of different sizes. Small, compact forms have been selected for many years to grow in gardens, and its cold-hardiness is a result of growing in those high mountains. Edwin Carstens lived in the town of Varel, in northern Germany. He grew some seeds of mugo pine, and one winter he spotted a unique gold plant among the seedlings. He worked with Hachmann Nursery, in the nearby town of Barmstedt. They grew more by grafting, and first released them in 1988. This plant is different from the variety ‘Winter Gold’, which is very inferior, with just a few gold needles in winter, while ‘Carstens’ is solid gold and very superior.

Our growers take stem pieces traceable back to Carstens’ original plant and attach them to a trunk from a pine seedling. This is how these amazing miniature trees are made, and the demand for them is always huge. Order now, as great plants like this don’t just grow on trees, and they will soon be gone.